By the time Street Horrrsing had made its rounds, it certainly sounded like Fuck Buttons had made one of the best post-rock album in recent memory. Thanks to the stunning anthem,”Sweet Love For Planet Earth,” Fuck Buttons carved out a nice little niche into the indie consciousness. Their approach was simple enough but it worked like a charm; electronic arpeggios and oscillating tones, met with heavy feedback, and simple up-down melodies. Ironically, the album did play like a grand soundtrack to the documentary series, Planet Earth. Street Horrrsing felt like it collected the spirit of the tundra, the rainforest, the plains, and the expanse of the ocean, but it also felt strangely human, thanks to Benjamin John Power’s indecipherable screams that reminded us that humans were actually making this. All in all, Street Horrrsing could engage listeners because it was quite catchy, but it also felt like an experience. With Power and Andrew Hung basking in mini-indie fame off of their debut, it put the dreaded Expectations on them. Yet, they deliver, as Tarot Sport is a logical sonic progression, surpassing the beauty of the debut.
The most striking difference that Tarot Sport employs is the screaming from the debut is gone. Some might miss that aspect of the group's sound quite a bit, but I for one, am not sad to see them go. On “Sweet Love For Earth,” the screams were hauntingly beautiful, adding even more depth to an already breathtaking song. On the other songs, however, they didn’t work as well. They weren’t a detractor, but they didn’t add to the quality of the music like they did on the opener. On this album’s opener, Fuck Buttons show their new chops in an impressive way. “Surf Solar” opens with another tumbling electronic jingle, before a pulsating melody and a beating drum transform the track into a trance-like dance song. On the debut, Fuck Buttons felt deliberate and methodical, giving the listener the full scope of the world, which left no room for dancing. “Surf Solar,” however, almost assumes that you’ve seen enough, and now it’s time to relax and enjoy yourself. The song uses tension to build up the melody, which wasn’t as present on the debut.
“Rough Steez” feels analogous to “Ribs Out,” being the second track, both fewer than five minutes, whose backbone is a percussive tribal beat. Both songs feel like stopgaps between two larger pieces. On its own, “Rough Steez” may be underwhelming, but it’s wonderful for leading into “The Lisbon Maru.” This might be the best Fuck Buttons song since “Sweet Love,” as it soaks in an unspeakable tranquility. A marching drumbeat leads along the pulsating feedback rhythm, akin to the one that blasts “Sweet Love” into the stratosphere. As the feedback proceeds forward, the oscillating tones give a warm undercurrent to the melody in classic Fuck Buttons form. The song is already a badass epic piece, but at around the five minute mark, the tones explode into an ethereal screech, which is just amazing. I can’t speak highly enough about “The Lisbon Maru.”
“Olympians” has some incredible momentum as “The Lisbon Maru” leads into it, placing it under a lot of pressure. Somehow, it holds up and makes for another fantastic song. A furious wash of electronics plays host to a two pronged melody, using simple tone shifts. The song then turns itself inside-out, as it becomes draped in feedback and forges onward as a melodic powerhouse. “Olympian” evokes that all-encompassing beauty that made Street Horrrsing so endearing. The back-to-back combo of these two songs makes for such a beautiful centerpiece that should win over all of the people looking for a step forward from these guys. Not to be outdone, two songs later, “Space Mountain” shows up ready to add another link in the chain. Atmospheric arpeggios, punchy percussion, and a layered, transcendent melody take hold in forming another incredible song. “Flight of the Feathered Serpent” closes things out with more upbeat percussion, reiterating the dance theme from earlier in the record. It also gets a strong melody from the alternating tones that Power and Hung use so liberally. The song is solid, albeit a little less individualistic. that is, until the song breaks down then reignites. Its second act elevates it back into Fuck Buttons’ normal fantastic state. What a way to finish!
Tarot Sport feels a little more dynamic than Street Horrrsing did. It is frequently more dancey, the percussion more pronounced, and each song has more of a personality. The great thing is that every song leads into the next, with a drum beat, or a droning chord transferring seamlessly into the next song. Each song feels like it was logically built from the pieces that came before it, but every track sounds singular and new. That note is probably a staple of why Fuck Buttons are so good, both from song-to–song, and on their cohesively crafted album as a whole. Tarot Sport is splendid front-to-back, not to mention it features four unbelievable stand-alone songs. After Tarot Sport, it seems likely that Fuck Buttons are going to move on from being the bell cows of post-rock, and will take on a larger stature in pop music in general in the vein of Sigur Ros, M83, or Tortoise. And they certainly deserve every bit of acclaim they get, because Street Horrrsing was great and Tarot Sport is absolutely incredible.
